


*looks at tommy* oh shit this comes with lore?

by MonstrifraMinerva



Category: Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware, Half-Life
Genre: Angst, But Only a Little Bit - Freeform, Gen, idk what else to tag its just me showing off my thoughts about tommy and his pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 09:41:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24348916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MonstrifraMinerva/pseuds/MonstrifraMinerva
Summary: i was thinking about the contradiction of tommy being an orphan but also having a dad and then it snowballed into this; tommy has a talk with his father, and then a talk with gordon.
Relationships: Tommy Coolatta & Gordon Freeman, kinda implied tommy has a crush on gordon
Comments: 10
Kudos: 148





	*looks at tommy* oh shit this comes with lore?

**Author's Note:**

> its like 1 am when im posting this so im super tired blehhhhh; i wanted to see more of tommy interacting with both his dad and gordon, so i granted my own wishes. have fun and stan tommy coolatta

Tommy was sulking. Sitting in the murky water of one of Black Mesa’s many underground canals, he let the water soak his clothes as he let himself cool down. He would probably be scolded later for letting himself get wet in the polluted water, but knowing how much his dad liked “nudging things into place”, Tommy would probably find himself wearing clean, dry clothes within the hour. 

The scientist slid down the canal wall he had been sitting against, letting his head slip under the surface. Not knowing what was happening, or what his dad was planning, caused more anxiety in Tommy than he wanted to admit. He let out a sigh underwater, feeling the slight current tug at his sleeves and hair. 

He hadn’t wanted to lie. He admired Gordon, even if the other man had made the occasional “child” joke at his expense. That sort of jab at him wasn’t new, so he just ignored it for the most part. Tommy just hoped that Gordon had heard every time he had said “I’m thirty-six, Mr. Freeman”, or “I’m older than you, Mr. Freeman”. Other than that, the two scientists got along great, and Tommy enjoyed Gordon's company, even in the face of a catastrophe. 

So when Gordon had asked him, sitting on the floor of the food court, if he had any family to go home to, Tommy had felt a pang of guilt in his gut when he blurted out a story of him being an orphan. Looking back, it was a stupid cover story, but Tommy hadn’t been able to think of anything else. At least he distracted Gordon with the mention of Sunkist. He always loved to talk about Sunkist. 

Tommy brought his head back up to the surface. Taking in a breath, he could smell the metallic odor that permeated in the air. He wondered if the scent was that of the surrounding machinery, or that of blood. He didn’t want to think about it too hard. 

“Thomas.”

The sudden voice behind him made Tommy jolt up and whip around, reaching for the gun he had put in the pocket of his lab coat. He knew it was his dad, of course, nobody else called him by his full name, but something about the unexpected sound had set off an automatic reaction in him. He didn’t even register the gun in his hand until it obscured his view of his father. Blinking, he realized what the item blocking his view was, and he sheepishly lowered it back into his pocket. 

“Now, Tommy, there’s no need to be so hostile,” his father, only known as G-man, said calmly. He was standing on the ledge before the sharp dip of the underground canal, looking as orderly and professional as always. Tommy had always envied his intimidating atmosphere. 

“Sorry, Dad,” Tommy mumbled, avoiding eye contact. “I didn’t- I didn’t mean to.” 

“It’s alright, Tommy, I know it must be…” G-man paused, gesturing vaguely with his hand at the room around him, “...intense, down here. I almost wish I hadn’t let you get involved in this.” 

The scientist felt his cheeks burn. “I can- I can do it, Dad, I don’t need you protecting me all the time like when I was little.” 

G-man’s face softened. “My apologies, Thomas,” he crouched down to meet his son’s eyes as Tommy stood in the water. “I know you are a perfectly capable adult, but I’ll always worry about you. You’re my son, after all. Your safety is my number one priority until the day I die. If I die.” 

Tommy crossed his arms, feeling the awkwardness of his soaked clothes as they squelched with his movements. “I know, Dad,” he replied after a long pause. “I just wish that my, um, my friends and I didn’t have to go through all of this- this thing.” He scrunched up his face as he thought about how much Gordon had been panicking throughout the past few days. He didn’t like it when Gordon was afraid. Luckily the others never seemed to mind their predicament, at least as much as Tommy could tell, but that made Gordon’s panic all the more worrying. 

“Oh, and Dad?” Tommy said. “I did, um, what you wanted me to do. Involving Mr. Freeman.” 

G-man looked slightly perplexed. “And what was that?” he questioned, rising back up again to stand at his full height. He didn’t want to be closer to the grime of Black Mesa’s floors for longer than he had to be. 

“Not telling him about you,” Tommy responded. “He asked me about, about, um, what family I have, and I remembered you wanting me to not talk about you, so I had to lie. I told him I was an orphan.” 

“Ah, that!” G-man clapped his hands together as he remembered his son’s task. “Good work, son. We need to let this event play out with as little outside influence as possible, after all. Dr. Freeman is a very intelligent man, despite the… rash decisions he makes. We wouldn’t want him connecting any dots.” 

“Okay, I guess…” Tommy trailed off. He knew his dad wasn’t giving him more information than he had to, and pressing him for details probably wouldn’t get him anywhere. “Look, I have to get back to the- to the group before they come looking for me. I’ll see you later, Dad.” He waded over to the ladder at the side of the canal. “Oh, and remember that Sunkist needs to have dinner at 6 o’clock sharp!” 

“Of course, Tommy.” 

When Tommy climbed up over the ledge, he saw his father was gone. And his clothes were suddenly dry. Of course. 

Walking back to the team’s temporary camp, Tommy focused on the sound of his shoes tapping against the concrete. He didn’t want to think about whatever was going on involving the resonance cascade, or what his father had to do with it. He just wanted to help his friends get to safety. He just wanted everything to turn out okay. 

“Hey, Tommy!” Gordon exclaimed as he noticed the scientist enter. “Did you have to use the bathroom or something? We missed you, dude!” 

“Sorry, Mr. Freeman, I just had to, um, be alone for a while.” Tommy didn’t feel that bad about not telling the group about his conversation with his dad, since his initial purpose of sneaking away was to have a peaceful moment alone, after all. 

“Ooooh, Tommy, what were you doin’ over there, bro?” Benrey retorted with his usual smugness. “Remember to keep it in your pants around here, dude.” 

Tommy couldn’t stifle a laugh. “Oh my god, Ben- Benrey!” 

“Benrey, dude, don’t say that kind of shit to Tommy! What the hell is wrong with you?” 

Gordon looked angry again, as he more often than not did at Benrey. Tommy couldn’t help but feel guilty during moments like this one, since although Tommy really cared about Gordon, he knew that Benrey liked Gordon so much more than Tommy did. It wasn’t fair that Gordon was so nice to Tommy, when he treated the guard with such contempt. He would be lying if he said he didn’t like the attention, though. Something about how Gordon cheered him on made Tommy feel warm all over. 

“It’s fine, bro, Tommy’s chill,” Benrey said. “We’re best bros.” 

“Yeah, okay, but like,” Gordon rolled his eyes. “That’s gross.” 

“Mr. Freeman, it’s okay,” Tommy assured him. “It’s not like I haven’t- haven’t heard a sex joke before.” 

Gordon still looked uncomfortable. “If you say so, bud.” 

Tommy huffed. “Mr. Freeman, I’m thirty-six. I think that by now- by now, I’m old enough to be fine with a- a fucking sex joke from my friend.” He hoped that an added swear word, unusual for his vocabulary, would carry his point across. 

Apparently it did, as Gordon looked startled, wide-eyed and body tensed. “Oh, shit, I’m- I’m sorry Tommy, I-”

“You always, always do this,” Tommy blurted out, unable to stop himself. “You treat me like- like I’m a kid, when I’m older than you are! It’s not fair!” 

“Hell yeah Tommy, go off,” Benrey mumbled. 

Tommy glared over at him. “Not. Now.” 

“Aight, I’m gonna go check on the gramps over there, then.” Benrey dropped down from the barrel he was seated on, awkwardly making his way over to Dr. Coomer and Bubby, who were obliviously messing with a control panel on the opposite end of the room. 

“Dude, don’t just leave me here!” Gordon hissed through his teeth nervously. His face was red from embarrassment. 

“Gordon!” 

Tommy clenched his fists. Calling Gordon by his first name out loud felt improper, but he figured the unexpectedness of the word would focus the man’s attention. And with the alarmed expression of Mr. Freeman, Tommy knew he had succeeded. 

“I’m, I’m just,” maintaining eye contact for too long was becoming too much, no matter how intimidating Tommy wanted to appear, so he shifted his eyes to just past Gordon’s shoulder instead, “I’m tired of it, okay? You all do this all the time, and I’m tired.” 

Gordon sighed. “I’m sorry, Tommy, truly. I really fucked up, didn’t I?” 

Tommy wanted to instinctually accept the apology, but he stood firm. “You- yeah, you kinda did. And- and, I’d appreciate it if you stopped.” 

“Yeah, yeah okay,” Gordon nodded. “I’ll stop.” 

Tommy exhaled, letting himself relax. He didn’t understand how his dad could keep up the whole “large and in charge” act all day. Doing it for more than a few seconds made him feel uncomfortable, even if he was genuinely upset. “Thank you,” he said. “It’s more, um, understandable, when those two do it,” he nodded over to the two elderly scientists trying to keep Benrey from taking a seat on the panel they were fiddling with, “since they’re really old, so I- so I try to not let it bother me that much. But you- you’re younger than I am, so it’s weird.” 

“I see that now, yeah,” Gordon said. “You’re my superior technically too, huh? Hope you don’t fire me after this, haha…” 

Tommy grinned. “I dunno,” he teased. “I’ll have to think it- think it over.” 

Gordon sent an awkward smile back. “I survive a resonance cascade only to get taken out by HR. Sounds about right for insanity that is now my life.” 

“Yo, Tommy! You good over there, man?” Benrey shouted, ignoring Bubby trying to shove the guard off the control panel. 

“Yeah! Don’t worry about it!” Tommy yelled back, cupping his hands around his mouth like a megaphone. 

“Cool!” 

“Alright, is everyone good now? Can we keep moving?” Gordon announced, obviously not wanting to hear an entire conversation done via shouting. 

“Hello, Gor- yes, we should keep moving,” Dr. Coomer called over. “By my predictions, we should make it to the Lambda Lab within the next two hours!” 

“That’s what you’ve been saying for the past five,” Tommy heard Gordon mumble, clearly drained. 

“Don’t- don’t worry, Mr. Freeman, I think we might be actually close this time,” Tommy said to Gordon softly. 

“I hope you’re right,” Gordon muttered back. “Okay, guys, let’s move out!” 

Tommy trailed behind Gordon as they advanced, enjoying how the sounds of his shoes tapping against the concrete mixed in with the clunk of Gordon’s HEV suit boots.  
He liked how they worked as a team, Gordon leading everyone into battle while Tommy followed behind, always ready to back him up. Their dynamic was good, despite the few hiccups, and Tommy hoped it could stay that way, even outside Black Mesa. He just prayed that whatever his dad was doing wouldn’t mess anything up. 

But, no time to think about that. Tommy wanted to enjoy the time he had with his friends, even if they argued constantly. Mostly Benrey and Gordon. Even currently, the fighting was starting back up. 

“Can’t believe dumbass got yelled at, you’re so mean bro. Why are you so mean.” 

“Oh, fuck you, Benrey.” 

Tommy beamed. He really liked mean people.


End file.
